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Rep. Dan Maffei on Miner: No reason to think she was pushed out, but it was great she was state Dem co-chair

Mayor Miner's 2014 State of the City Address

Today, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner stepped down as the co-chair of the state's Democratic Party. U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, pictured here, said he does not believe Miner was pushed out of her party role. File photo, January.
(Stephen D. Cannerelli)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei said he believes Mayor Stephanie Miner stepped down as co-chair of the state's Democratic Party so she can focus on running Syracuse.

"It's great she was able to do it for a couple of years," Maffei, D-Syracuse, said this evening when contacted by syracuse.com. "I also know how intense the job of mayor of Syracuse is right now. She's got to prioritize being mayor."

Maffei said it was good for the area that Miner served as the party's state co-chair for two years. "But I'm not at all disappointed that she stepped down," he said.

Maffei also said he didn't believe Miner was asked to step down. Miner said earlier today the decision was hers.

"Mayor Miner has always been a good Democrat," Magnarelli said. "I appreciate all the work she has done for our party and I look forward to continuing working with her as Mayor of Syracuse."

Maffei said he had never witnessed any problems directly between Miner and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who tapped her to lead the party two years ago.

"That said, I might not be in the know," Maffei added.

Separately this evening, Miner said her disagreements with Cuomo were over policy, not politics.

"The issues that I'm talking about and the disagreements that I've had with the governor are policy based," Miner said. "Every elected official at one time or another has disagreements with other elected officials. That's the nature of the arena that we're in. There's the policy arena and there's the political arena."

Miner and Cuomo's relationship has cooled, at least in public, after Miner publicly criticized his efforts to help struggling cities. Miner and Cuomo last spoke in October.

Maffei said he hoped the party would continue to run with two chairs, one from Upstate and one from Downstate. The current party chair is Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Harlem.

"I do hope they keep that sort of process," Maffei said.

Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.Staff writer Michelle Breidenbach contributed to this story.